


Hope Shines in the Darkest of Places

by Cactus_Juice



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Slow Burn, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27185044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cactus_Juice/pseuds/Cactus_Juice
Summary: Sokka is ten years old when he first meets his betrothed, Zuko, who's a prince of the fire nation. Zuko is a year older than Sokka. He is stubborn and hotheaded at times, but Sokka learns that he has a softer side to him as well. Throughout the years both boys have to come to term with who they are, what they want, and where their loyalties lie. Will they stay by each others side or split off to forge a new destiny for themselves?
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 95





	Hope Shines in the Darkest of Places

Sokka is ten years old when he learns he has a betrothed. He doesn't know much about the person he will one day have to marry apart from the fact that they're a prince of the fire nation. He remembers the first time his father told him. The conversation ended with Sokka yelling at his father, who came into his room later to talk with him. 

"Son, I would love for you to choose who you marry more than anything, but the new firelord is trying to make things right between our nations. This marriage will be a symbol of peace." Hakoda says, trying to explain. 

"Well maybe I don't want things to be right. The fire nation has taken so much from us, including mom!" Sokka says, his voice cracks with emotion. Hakoda hugs his son tightly. It was a decision he pondered over for many nights, before finally agreeing.

"I know that you're still upset about what happened to your mother. You have every right to be, but not everybody in the fire nation is going to be like those who killed her. There are plenty of kind people in the fire nation, and I'm sure your betrothed is one of them. Plus the marriage won't happen until you're much older. You'll still have plenty of time to just be a kid. " He pauses for a moment. 

"You know, you're going to be an amazing chief one day. Sometimes you have to make decisions you really don't want to for the tribe. I know it's not fair, but it's what needs to happen." Hakoda finishes firmly. Sokka was upset for quite a while, but he eventually came around. 

That was four months ago. Now, they are currently waiting to dock their ship at the fire nation palace. The sail was not a smooth one, so Sokka was excited to finally be on land. It is so much warmer in the fire nation, the air feels stuffy and suffocating as Sokka rips off another one of his outer layers. 

"This is awful! How do people live like this?!" Sokka exclaims. 

"Well, many people in the fire nation are fire benders." His father answers, chuckling slightly at Sokka's antics. Sokka just sighs, at least the view was nice. Where the southern water tribe was blues and whites, the fire nation seemed to be full of shades of oranges and reds. The people who greet them when they come off their ship are surprisingly nice and very respectful.

"If you'll follow me this way sir, I'll bring you to the room where you'll be staying. We'll send someone to alert the fire lord of your arrival." One of the men says, stepping forward and motioning for them to follow. They don't even have to carry their own luggage! Sokka is utterly amazed at the sheer size of the palace as well as how beautifully it's decorated. His eyes light up in awe as they pass through the royal gardens. Here he sees many plants in so many different shades and colors that he didn't even know existed. 

Walking into the giant palace doesn't feel like walking into someone's home. The majority of the space feels untouched as though nobody has lived or made memories here. It's nothing like their messy home where you're sure to find things lying about and actual signs of life. The place is still very interesting to an adventurous boy, and Sokka hopes he'll be able to explore later, possibly even with his betrothed. The room they are given to stay in is almost the size of their entire house in the southern water tribe. He and his father spend the next half hour unpacking before another servant knocks on their door. 

"The fire lord has requested your presence." They say with a bow.

"Well Sokka, you ready to meet your betrothed." Hakoda asks, nudging Sokka gently. Sokka swallows nervously before answering.

"As ready as I'll ever be." 

The servant walks Sokka and Hakoda to the throne room. It is quite a long walk from their room, and Sokka wonders how the servants travel around without getting lost. The place is huge and surrounded by a wall of fire. Sokka can't help but feel slightly intimidated. That is until he sees the new fire lord. He's an older plump man with a kind smile, and he has a beard as well as longer white hair that's pulled up into a topknot. Everything about his presence is welcoming. 

However, the boy on his right is anything but. From this far away, Sokka can't make out much, but the clear scowl on his face is prominent. He appears to be about Sokka's age, and they're roughly the same height, but that's where the similarities end. He has very pale skin compared to Sokka's darker complexion. His hair is so dark that it's almost the same color as charcoal, and he has it pulled up into a high ponytail that shows off the sharper edges of his face. He's dressed very formally in dark shades of red and black. It takes a moment for Sokka to realize that this must be his betrothed.

Once Sokka and Hakoda get closer, he can make out the finer details under the light of the fire. Sokka just manages to hold in a gasp when he sees the angry red burn scar covering nearly half of the boys' face. It doesn't look fresh, but it doesn't look fully healed over either. Sokka winces internally, feeling sympathetic towards this boy. He's had his fair share of small burns from cooking or tending fires, but he can't imagine how much this one had to hurt. He tries to imagine different scenarios of how he got that bad of a burn on his face, but none seem realistic.

Sokka and his father walk until they reach the raised platform. Hakoda stands facing the Firelord while Sokka faces the boy. The boy seems to be doing everything he can to avoid Sokka's gaze, who's been desperately trying to meet his eyes since they walked in the room. Hakoda bows respectfully, and Sokka follows suit. The firelord nods and motions for them to come up onto the platform.

"Firelord Iroh, it's nice to finally meet you in person." Hakoda says. The older Firelord chuckles lightly. 

"Chief Hakoda, there's no need for such formalities. Please, just call me Iroh. It's such an honor for you both to be here today. It's been many years since anyone from the southern water tribe has come to our palace, and I'm glad that we're here to mend the relationship between our nations." Iroh says thoughtfully before looking towards Sokka.

"You must be Sokka then?" Sokka startles, a bit caught off guard. He breaks his gaze away from the boy.

"Uh, yes. That's me." He says casually after clearing his throat. Iroh gives him a kind smile before turning to the boy who Sokka has been staring at. 

"I'd like you to meet my nephew." He says to Sokka, motioning towards the boy.

"Why don't you introduce yourself." He says to the boy, nudging him forward gently with a hand on his shoulder. The boy glares daggers towards his uncle. He gives Sokka a quick glance over before responding.

"No thanks." He seethes, and Sokka can't help but feel slightly offended. Iroh now gives him a stern, 'I wasn't asking you to, I was telling you to' look that Sokka is all too familiar with. The boy gives his uncle a look that has Sokka fearing for Iroh's safety before the boy composes himself. He walks up to Sokka and reaches out a pale hand for him to shake. Sokka gives the hand a good shake, hoping that this moment wouldn't be an indication of how they'd get along in the future.

"My name is Zuko. It's a pleasure to meet you." The boy- Zuko says. His voice is friendly, but his expression gives away how he's really feeling. The words are impersonal and clearly rehearsed. He's now looking directly at Sokka. With them being this close, Sokka can't help but notice the gold flecks in Zuko's eyes that seem to light up under the fires glow. If those eyes weren't currently giving him the death glare, Sokka might even describe them as beautiful. 

"It's nice to meet you too!" Sokka says enthusiastically, putting on a wide grin, hoping to show Zuko that he's friendly. Zuko's expression remains stoic. Sokka is relieved when Iroh begins talking, and he is able to look away from Zuko.

"I'm sure you two have had a long journey to get here. Perhaps you'd like to relax with a cup of tea so we can discuss some matters of the arrangement? It would be a good time for these two to get to know each other as well." Hakoda agrees, and all four of them walk out of the throne room to a more comfortable and less formal sitting room. Sokka sighs contentedly as he flops down into a cushioned couch, next to his father. Zuko and Iroh sit on the couch facing theirs. Sokka expected that the servants would be the ones to serve them tea, so he's surprised when Iroh dismisses them instead. 

"Now what kind of tea would you like? I make a mean cup of ginseng." Iroh says with a playful wink. Hakoda and Sokka both agree to try the ginseng. Iroh goes to start the tea, letting them know he'll be right back. Zuko looks absolutely uncomfortable with Iroh gone. He's fidgeting with his hands and staring off to one corner of the room to avoid eye contact.

"So Zuko, I hear you're getting sword lessons. How's that going?" Hakoda asks, trying to make conversation. Sokka looks questioningly at his dad. 'How come he never told me my betrothed did something as cool as sword fighting?' Sokka wonders bitterly.

"It's going alright so far, but I've had to put my lessons on hold for right now, so I can catch up on my fire bending." Zuko explains. 'So not only does he know how to fight with swords, but he's a bender too?!' Sokka thinks excitedly. Perhaps Zuko and him could get along after all. Sokka asks a few questions about how his bending works. To his surprise, Zuko answers them all enthusiastically. Iroh comes back with the tea shortly after. 

"Ginseng for you two, and jasmine for Zuko." Iroh says, handing them each their cup before sitting down with his own. Hakoda and Iroh talk about the marriage agreement while they all drink their tea. They discuss things like who would live where and when would be a good time for the wedding. Sokka is relieved to hear that it won't be until he's at least eighteen. He doesn't think he's ready to be a married man anytime soon.

Sokka keeps looking over at Zuko, and is surprised when he catches Zuko looking back. Zuko starts slightly and immediately looks away; a light flush rises over his cheeks. Sokka really wants to talk with Zuko, but he feels awkward with the grownups sitting just feet away who could listen in on their conversation. Thankfully Iroh seems to sense this, and gives them an out.

"Zuko, why don't you go show Sokka the gardens. I'm sure he'd love to see the turtleduck pond." Iroh suggests, setting down his cup of tea. Zuko rises from where he was sitting gracefully while Sokka wonders what a turtleduck is.

"Sure, follow me!" Zuko says, looking over at Sokka with a small smile, and Sokka's heart leaps at the sight. He follows after Zuko, and tries to come up with a good start to a conversation as they walk. He says the first thing that comes to mind.

"It's pretty cool that you know how to sword fight and are a bender!" 

"Uh thanks, I guess." Zuko responds looking down. Sokka thinks that's all he's going to say, but then he continues. 

"What about you? Are you a bender?" Zuko asks. Sokka shakes his head.

"Sadly no, but I do know how to use a boomerang!" Sokka answers, hoping he'll get to show Zuko his favorite weapon one day.

"What's a boomerang?" Zuko asks, looking puzzled. Sokka can't believe this! How can Zuko not know what a boomerang is?!

"It's a really cool weapon. I don't really know how to describe it, but I brought my favorite one with me. Maybe I can show it to you sometime!" Sokka says excitedly. Zuko just nods. It seems that unless Sokka comes up with something else to talk about, the conversation will be short. He thinks back to something he was curious about earlier. 

"How'd you get your scar?" Sokka blurts. He immediately regrets asking as he sees Zuko's face fall. 

"I don't want to talk about it." Zuko says firmly, glaring down at the ground instead of looking at Sokka now. Sokka holds his hands up defensively.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up." Sokka says, feeling bad as Zuko looks extremely self conscious right now. He's pulling at the loose strands of hair on the side of his face, as if they could hide the scar. He could slap himself for being so stupid and careless. What was he thinking asking something personal like that when he and Zuko barely knew each other?

They arrive at what must be the turtleduck pond. Here Sokka sees what must be the cutest thing he's ever seen in his whole life. A tutleduck family. Zuko sits by the waters edge, and Sokka sits down next to him, careful to put enough space between them. They spend several long minutes in silence just watching the turtle ducks swimming and playing. 

"So... How are you doing?" Sokka asks awkwardly. 

"Fine." Zuko snaps, the lighthearted mood between them is long gone. Sokka wants to try and fix it, but he's unaware of just how upset Zuko is.

"So it's kind of weird that we're going to be married -" Sokka is cut off abruptly.

"Listen, I don't care what my uncle says. I'm not marrying you or any other water tribe savage. I'd rather die." Zuko suddenly bursts out angrily. Sokka looks at him with wide eyes. His mouth is open slightly in shock before the words have time to process. Once they do, Sokka is pissed off. Who does this stubborn full of himself prince think he is? Sokka has tried to be nice this whole time, and Zuko's going to insult his entire tribe by calling them savages? He clearly has no idea that the fire nation is the one who uses violent and cruel tactics to get ahead. He's so infuriated; he wants to hurt Zuko's pride and feelings. Sokka knows what will do just that.

"Fine! Well maybe I don't want to marry someone with a big ugly scar on his face either!" Sokka shouts. He doesn't mean the words coming out of his mouth, but he hopes it'll strike a nerve. For a moment, the words felt good to say, to get back at Zuko. However, the moment ends as soon as he notices how Zuko's eyes are watering and his lip trembles slightly. The feeling of guilt settles over Sokka immediately, and he feels like the biggest jerk in the world.

"Wait I didn't-" is all he gets out before Zuko runs off, tears streaking down his face. Great, his betrothed hates him now.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody, thanks for reading. Please let me know if you've enjoyed this so far, or have any suggestions for the future. There are many differences between this fic and what's canon in the show and comics. These differences will be explained as they come up in later chapters. I'll be updating about every week or every other week. Thank you!


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